Iran has started a probe into the $7.9 billion privatisation of a state-owned telecoms company after allegations emerged that one of the buyers was linked to the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps, according to media reports.

Last month, Etemad Mobin Development, a consortium of three Iranian firms, purchased 50 per cent plus one share in Telecommunication Company of Iran in the country's biggest privatisation deal. Since then media reports have surfaced saying one of the members of the buying consortium belonged to a branch of the Guards, a move seen contradicting the basic idea of privatisation, said a AFP report.

'We have done some studies on... problematic areas in the deal and we will inform about them to the privatisation and bourse organisations,' Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, the head of Iran's Inspection Organisation, was quoted as saying by Tehran Emrouz newspaper.

The Guards Corps, set up to defend the country from internal and external threats, has become a major economic force in recent years because of its controversial and overwhelming presence in the energy, finance and construction sectors.

Members of Etemad Mobin have denied the Guards were connected to the deal or that its financial resources were used in the acquisition of Telecommunication Company.

'The 50 per cent plus one share was bought from the public,' Mozafar Pour Ranjbar, managing director of Mobin Electronic Development, a member of the consortium, was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

'This consortium doesn't have to do with the Guards and has made its purchase from other financial sources,' said Mohammad-Reza Modarres Khiabani, head of another member of the consortium.